I have begun to suspect that time behaves differently in Israel.

Not metaphorically. Literally.

The clocks insist that sixty seconds make a minute and sixty minutes make an hour, but after nearly five years of living here, I have reached the conclusion that the clocks are engaged in a conspiracy.

Six months disappear in what feels like six weeks. Entire years vanish without warning. Yet a single day can stretch so long that you begin to suspect it has ambitions of becoming a month.

Scientists tell us that our perception of time is influenced by novelty, memory, emotion and attention. We do not experience clock time. We experience subjective time. The brain records meaningful, emotional, and unusual events differently from routine ones, creating the strange phenomenon whereby years can seem to disappear while individual moments become unforgettable.

This explains a great deal about Israel. Most countries organize themselves around calendars. Israel organizes itself around events.

Nobody says, “That happened in March.”

People say, “That was before the war.”

Or, “That was after the election.”

Or, “That was during the hostage negotiations.”

Or, “That was during the other hostage negotiations.”

History, in most countries, stays politely in the past.

History in Israel keeps........

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